Traditional fruit hot cross buns

Mass-produced buns that are spice-starved, low in fruit, with soft crusts, wrapped in plastic and stacked in piles at the end of the supermarket isle, just doesn't cut it.

You want your buns to be soft, fruity and spicy, slightly sweet, with golden crusts that are crisp and wonderfully sticky. If you bake them early in the morning on Good Friday, you want the fragrance of your buns to wake the sleepyheads from their beds, to gather the whole family around the kitchen-table for their Easter breakfast.

These traditional fruit hot cross buns do just that. They are not only the real thing, they're also fairly easy to make. It does take a bit of time, but not too much, especially if you have a bread maker.

Traditionally, hot cross buns are eaten on Good Friday. Because the crosses marked on top are a symbol of the crucifixion, it is also traditional to eat fruit buns without crosses before Easter, and to add the crosses on Good Friday.

Method

Using a bread maker:

Place the currants and sultanas in your bread maker's raisin dispenser. If your bread maker doesn't have a raisin dispenser, keep the currants and sultanas separate and knead it in by hand during step number 6.

Place yeast, flour and other dry ingredients together in the bread maker's pan.

Add fruit and knead the dough well until smooth and elastic, for about 10 minutes by hand or 5 minutes using an electric mixer. The dough should form a soft ball which, when pressed lightly, resume it's shape. The dough should not be sticky.

Making the buns:

Divide the dough into either 12, 15 or 16 equal pieces, and shape each piece into a ball.

Place on a baking sheet or in a baking tin, either lined with baking paper or well greased.

The balls of dough can be spaced close to each other, but if you want your buns to be round (as on the photo), space them at least 5cm (2 inches) apart.

Leave covered until it doubled in size. This will take at least one hour or more in a warm environment (such as the hot water cylinder's cupboard), or overnight in a cold room or the fridge.

To make the crosses, mix the flour and water until smooth and runny. Place mixture in a small zip-lock plastic bag and seal. Snip off a very small (2 mm) corner and pipe crosses on the tops of the buns.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes in an oven preheated to 200°C until dark golden brown.

To make the glazing, dissolve sugar into the water and boil for 1 minute.